


First Day in the City

by drpinkky



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: F/F, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-04-23 15:41:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14335695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drpinkky/pseuds/drpinkky
Summary: Jacques can't come pick up Olivia, but she still misses the trolley. What's a girl to do now that she's stuck in The City?





	First Day in the City

Olivia Caliban was never an exceptionally lucky person, but she believed she knew good fortune when she saw it. After a day of incomprehensible zombie films, unhelpful bankers, and missed trolleys, meeting Jacquelyn felt like a stroke of good luck, and not just because she was the first person to show her any kindness in The City. After she missed the last trolley leaving The City for the day, Olivia returned, embarrassed, to the office of the Vice President in Charge of Orphan Affairs at Mulctuary Money Management to ask about the status of the taxi Jacquelyn suggested. Jacquelyn shook her head, as her friend who drove said taxi was stuck somewhere far away, and wouldn’t be back until the next morning, at the earliest. 

“So I’m stuck here, in an unfamiliar city, with no place to go?” 

Jacquelyn thought a moment. “Maybe not no place,” she said, then pressed a button on the intercom on her desk. “Mr. Poe?”

The speaker crackled, or rather coughed, to life with Mr. Poe’s response.  
“Yes, Jacquelyn?”

“I was wondering if I could take an early lunch. My friend here is new to The City and I was hoping to help her see some of the sights.”

Olivia, so surprised by how quickly Jacquelyn was willing to call her a friend, nearly dropped her bags. Mr. Poe, so moved by Jacquelyn’s offer to help a friend on her first day in The City, gave her the rest of the afternoon off. Jacquelyn quickly sorted what was left of the paperwork on her desk and pulled Olivia out of the office before Mr. Poe could change his mind. 

They ate lunch at Jacquelyn’s preferred sandwich shop and then spent the rest of the afternoon window-shopping at the boutiques on the edge of the Banking District. As they walked side by side, their hands occasionally brushed together. Each contact left Olivia’s hand tingling, as though Jacquelyn was electric. Their idle conversation was somehow the most intriguing discussion she’d ever held. 

When the bag holding _The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations_ grew too heavy on Olivia’s shoulder, Jacquelyn volunteered to carry it. “After all,” she reasoned, “we’re not too far from my apartment.” 

Something about the suggestion, be it Jacquelyn’s smile or the simple thought of going to her apartment, made Olivia’s stomach clench. She slipped the Prufrock Preparatory School bag off her shoulder, held it out to Jacquelyn, and hoped her face wasn’t as red as it felt. Jacquelyn hefted it over her own shoulder and set off down the sidewalk, leaving Olivia no chance to protest. She had to rush to keep up with the other woman already, and if Jacquelyn had even a second’s head start, Olivia would have to run. Fortunately, she stopped at a building half a block away. 

“Good afternoon, Miss Scieszka,” the doorman in front of the building said. His gaze switched to Olivia as she hurried up to them.

“Good afternoon, Bruce,” Jacquelyn responded. Then, before Bruce could ask, she said, “This is my friend, Olivia Caliban.” 

“How nice,” Bruce said, clearly feigning interest, as he offered his hand. Olivia shook it. 

Bruce held open the door for the two to enter the lobby. The clicking of their heels echoed around the empty room as Jacquelyn led Olivia to the stairs. Fortunately, her apartment was on the second floor, so the climb was not a grueling one. In the time it took them to climb the single flight of stairs and walk down the hallway to the apartment, however, Olivia caught herself admiring Jacquelyn’s body no less than five times. Each time, she tried to remind herself Jacquelyn was only being nice and probably wouldn’t want to be thought of in that way. In her distraction, she didn’t notice when Jacquelyn stopped in front of her door, and would have fallen if not for her companion’s quick reflexes.

“Careful there,” Jacquelyn said as she steadied Olivia with a hand on each of her shoulders. 

Olivia mumbled her thanks and adjusted her glasses. Jacquelyn studied Olivia’s face for a moment before she turned her attention to her bag. She pulled the key to her apartment out of a pocket inside the bag and opened the door. 

The furniture inside was all sleek and modern. The color scheme of the entire apartment was grey and black, but somehow, it looked welcoming rather than dolorous. Jacquelyn visibly relaxed when she entered her home, as though she had been waiting for something to go wrong all day. She set _The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations_ on the counter in the kitchen and stretched her shoulder as Olivia looked around in awe. 

“This really fits you,” she said without thought. Jacquelyn laughed, a sound which made Olivia’s heart soar. 

“I’m glad to hear that, considering I practically live on the job. Can I get you something to drink?” 

“Water, please.” 

Jacquelyn pulled two glasses out of a black cabinet and held them to the ice dispenser in the stainless steel refrigerator. She filled each and set them on coasters on her dining room table. Olivia hung her purse on the back of a chair and sat across from Jacquelyn.

“So, what was it like, working at Prufrock Prep?” Jacquelyn asked after a long silence. Olivia grimaced. 

“Awful. I didn’t even tell Mr. Poe the whole story.”

“So, tell me.” Jacquelyn leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands.  
Despite her distaste for the school and her desire to forget her time there, being the sole focus of Jacquelyn’s attention compelled Olivia to tell her tale again, in full. Throughout the story, Jacquelyn seemed to take notes in her head, and at its end, took one of Olivia’s hands.

“It’s a noble thing, coming to plead the children’s case to Mr. Poe.”  
“I don’t know if I would go that far,” Olivia said.  
Jacquelyn raised an eyebrow and squeezed Olivia’s hand. “Don’t sell yourself short, you gave up your job to come to a City with which you were unfamiliar in order to help fight injustice. I would say that’s a noble act.”

Overwhelmed by her encouragement, Olivia looked at Jacquelyn’s hands, and in the process noticed the watch on her wrist. Evidently, her story of her tenure as a school librarian was significantly more detailed than it needed to be. With the realization of the late hour, a sudden drowsiness overtook her and she tried to stifle a yawn. 

“You didn’t happen to bring anything to sleep in, did you?” Jacquelyn asked. Olivia looked down at her blazer and blouse and sighed.

“I did not. This was supposed to be more of a day trip.”

“That’s easily remedied, come with me.”

Olivia picked up the coasters after Jacquelyn gathered the empty glasses. Jacquelyn nodded towards a side table, and Olivia returned the coasters to the box holding the rest of the set. She followed Jacquelyn to her bedroom in the back of the apartment. Jacquelyn pulled a set of pajamas out of her drawers and studied them.

“Here,” she said, holding them out to Olivia, “these should fit.” 

“Jacquelyn, I really appreciate all you’ve done for me today, but you really don’t have to go out of your way for me, and anyway, I’ll be fine wearing this.” She gestured to her clothes. “I’ll sleep on the couch and be out of your hair in the morning.”

“That couch is terribly uncomfortable to sleep on. And who said I wanted you out of my hair?”

Olivia considered Jacquelyn’s faultless logic. She took the pajamas from Jacquelyn. The thought of sharing the bed made her heart race.

“Are you a kicker?” She asked. Jacquelyn smiled and shook her head. 

“No, but I am a cuddler.”

That comment, coming from ever-so-serious Jacquelyn, caught Olivia off guard. 

“Oh?”

“If that’s a problem,” Jacquelyn started.

“Not a problem, I just never thought you’d say something like that. I mean, you’re so serious.” Olivia stopped herself before she could start to ramble.

Jacquelyn grinned. She turned around to her drawers to find sleepwear for herself. Olivia took the opportunity to change as quickly as she could. She carefully folded her clothes and set them on the floor,then waited until Jacquelyn’s weight made the mattress creak before turning around. Olivia pulled her hair out of the bun on top of her head and set her glasses on the bedside table. She crawled into the bed and settled next to Jacquelyn. She left about a book’s width between them. Jacquelyn draped an arm over her shoulders.

“Is this alright?”

Olivia nodded. She stared up at Jacquelyn’s ceiling and tried to fall asleep.

“Hey, Jacquelyn?” She whispered after a while.

“Hmm?”

“Would you mind if I rolled over?”

“Be my guest.”

Olivia turned so she faced Jacquelyn. She wrapped an arm around her waist and laid her head on Jacquelyn’s chest. Jacquelyn traced circles on her shoulder. In that moment, as she listened to Jacquelyn’s heartbeat, Olivia Caliban thought she was the luckiest woman on earth.

She had no thought of how quickly luck could turn.

**Author's Note:**

> My ASOUE blog is Lesbianscieszka !


End file.
